William Byron Wins Record Setting Race at Atlanta
It was a record-setting day at Atlanta Motor Speedway, where Hendrick Motorsport once again flexed their muscle.
William Byron led a race-high 111 laps on Sunday to claim his first victory of the season, and the third of his young career. The driver of the No. 24 Chevrolet became the third member of Rick Hendrick's team to win a race this season. The 24-year old held off a number of contenders late in the race, which was littered with caution flags and lead changes.
Hendrick becomes the first team since 1956 to have three different drivers win a race within the first five races in a season. "It was so different," Byron exclaimed. "Honestly, the last few laps there and trying to manage the gap to Bubba and trying to not get too far out front. Thanks to this whole team. They’ve done a great job this year. Lots of changes with the Next Gen car. The Chevrolet was awesome there. Worked hard overnight. Had a pretty rough practice and worked hard on it and got it handling well. It was kind of an intermediate style with a little bit of speedway into it, so a lot of fun."
Ross Chastain collected his second consecutive runner-up finish, and his third straight top-three finish this season. The driver of the No. 1 Trackhouse Racing Team has been knocking on the door all season in pursuit of his first career win. Chevrolet drivers took five of the top six finishing positions, with the lone exception being Kurt Busch grabbing a 3rd place finish for Toyota, who is still winless this season.
Daniel Suarez followed up his 9th place finish at Phoenix last week with another 4th place today at Atlanta. It was a banner day for Trackhouse, who are sure to find victory lane very soon. Rounding out the top five was Corey LaJoie, who had an impressive run from the 33rd starting position in the race. He was just one of several drivers who suffered some sort of contact during the race.
Chastain was leading on Lap 95 when a right-rear tire failure sent him into the wall. He rebounded nicely but there were many drivers that had that same issue throughout the race. Ricky Stenhouse Jr had that very same thing happen to him just nine laps from the conclusion of Stage 2.
That incident with Stenhouse collected Austin Cindric, Kevin Harvick, Erik Jones, and Christopher Bell. On the final lap of Stage 2, Denny Hamlin was pushing Kyle Larson but they got loose and ended up into the wall, ending the day for both. Ryan Blaney won the second stage with Byron winning the first. A similar situation played out at the end of the first stage between Kyle Busch and Austin Dillon that took out both drivers.
The biggest incident took place in the second stage when Tyler Reddick had his right-rear tire failure. That wreck took out a large portion of the field, including Joey Logano, Larson, Kurt Busch, Cindric, Hamlin, Michael McDowell, and LaJoie. Some were able to continue on, but the day was ruined for most of them, including the driver of the No. 8 Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.
Chase Elliott is the only Hendrick driver that has not won a race this season, but the 2020 Cup champion delivered a 6th place finish today. Chris Buescher got a much-needed 7th place finish but actually crossed the line while crashing in the big pile up at the end of the race. Martin Truex Jr had a solid afternoon with an 8th place finish, and Logano was able to put together a 9th place result. Rounding out the top ten was Alex Bowman, putting a bow on the great day for the Hendrick organization.
There were a few drivers that did not get the finish they were deserving of on Sunday. Bell crossed the finish line in 2nd place but was penalized for going below the red line on the final lap. He was scored to the last position on the lead lap, which was 23rd. Bubba Wallace was riding in 2nd place in the closing laps when he got collected in the mess at the end. The 23XI Racing driver ended up 13th when it was said and done.
The pole sitter and last week's race winner Chase Briscoe was another one that was in the lead group in the closing laps, but got pushed out of position and dropped through the field. The Stewart Haas Racing driver ended up 15th today. Blaney was riding in the 3rd position at the end but also had some contact that pushed him back, finishing 17th.
The attrition rate was particularly high today as there were 11 cautions for 65 laps. That is more than the Daytona 500 had last month. There were also 46 lead changes among 20 drivers, which shattered the old record at Atlanta. There were 12 cars that were not able to finish the race, and many more that were destroyed on the final lap.
The race was just as wild as some had predicted it would be. The battles at the front of the field were entertaining, as drivers were jockeying for position all afternoon. In the end, Byron was able to hold off challengers while working both lanes to perfection. It may be a season of new and different things, but the Hendrick team has not skipped a beat since last year.
Now it is time for some road racing. The plot thickens as teams head to Circuit of the Americas next weekend in Austin, Texas. Coverage for Sunday's EchoPark Automotive Grand Prix begins at 3:30 PM ET on FOX.
